Info about Dawn of Defiance:

Official game description:
JOIN OUR DISCORD
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See the Community Discord link in our social section on the right panel!
OUR EARLY ACCESS ROADMAP
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After having prioritized the first few months of Early Access to making quality of life improvements and solidifying the foundation of our game, we're excited to be progressing towards our 1.0 Release with new content. We weighed feedback from our players with our internal goals, and here we've outlined the features we plan to implement into the game before the final release.  
View this image at full size and read more information at the Dawn of Defiance website! Look for the link in the right panel.
About the Game
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Discontent brews in the Underworld, and by the hand of Charon, you have been spared death and brought to a lost shore to be tested. To discover your role in an elusive plot against the Gods, you must start from nothing, hunt for resources, and arm yourself against the dangers of the isles. Only then will you prove yourself worthy of the greater trials ahead.  
EXPLORE THE RUINS
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Venture across the ruins and wilds, just beyond the domain of the Gods. With heightened movement abilities, traverse and endure the natural challenges of coastal cliffs, foggy woods, dark caves, and blistering sands to unlock treasure and power amidst mythic landmarks.  
EMPOWER YOURSELF
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To fight back against the natural wildlife and fallen, corrupted heroes that came before, you must grow in strength through acquired recipes and upgrades. As you claim victories across the isles, build and adorn impressive Greek structures that rival the halls of Olympus, and protect yourself with improved and uniquely selected weapon designs and armor sets, crafted by ingredients you choose.  
DEFY THE GODS
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Only after you have overcome the tasks set before you, may you cross the threshold into the Forgotten Crossroads and discover the mysterious purpose of your odyssey. Compelled by distant guides, seek out the shrines of the Olympians, and complete the trials to steal their knowledge and sever the Gods’ lingering ties of power.  
BAND TOGETHER
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Undertake this deadly odyssey on your own, or recruit up to three friends to aid your journey at any time in online cooperative multiplayer. Divide and conquer to gather resources and claim the isles in the name of Defiance while sharing objective rewards across players, so you never miss out.  
**Please note:** We utilize Epic Online Services for our backend to enable cross-play compatibility for those that want to play with friends regardless of where they purchased the game. This requires an installation of an EOS dependency to allow the game to communicate with backend systems. You do not need to install Epic Games Store, nor have an Epic account to play our game. If you are playing on Steam, the only data that this EOS dependency pulls from you is publicly available information related to your steam account.

Release date: 15 Aug, 2024

Categories: Resource Management, Crafting, Base Building, Cooperative Multiplayer, Exploration, Real-time Combat, Character Progression, Survival


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Intuitive and flexible building mechanics (weight 0.75): The game features well-designed and intuitive building mechanics, with easy snapping, free placement, and customization options. Players appreciate the freedom to create unique structures and bases, with ample building pieces and a user-friendly interface that simplifies the construction process.
- Enjoyable, smooth, and polished gameplay (weight 0.59): Reviewers find the gameplay enjoyable, smooth, and easy to learn, with fluid controls and responsive mechanics. The game offers a good balance of challenge and accessibility, making it engaging for both casual and experienced players, and is well-polished, especially for an early access title.
- Stunning, visually appealing graphics (weight 0.49): The game boasts stunning and visually appealing graphics, a beautiful world, and a well-executed art style. Reviewers frequently praise the breathtaking landscapes, detailed environments, and overall visual fidelity, highlighting the developers' focus on creating an immersive and aesthetically pleasing experience.
- Great sound design and atmosphere (weight 0.47): The game features great sound design, with well-executed audio effects and an impressive soundtrack that enhances the overall atmosphere. Reviewers also appreciate the appealing art direction and well-done animations, which contribute to a more immersive and engaging gaming experience.
- Responsive and active developers (weight 0.44): The developers are actively engaged with the community, listening to feedback, and consistently releasing updates and fixes. Reviewers appreciate the responsiveness of the development team and their commitment to improving the game based on player suggestions, indicating a strong potential for future growth and expansion.
- Unique and refreshing Greek setting (weight 0.43): The game's Ancient Greek setting and incorporation of Greek mythology provide a unique and refreshing experience compared to other survival games. Reviewers appreciate the thematic elements, such as god-like powers and Greek-inspired quests, which contribute to a captivating and immersive world.
- Helpful quality-of-life features (weight 0.42): The game incorporates quality-of-life features that enhance the player experience, such as no weight limits, auto-looting, and customizable settings. These features reduce tedium and allow players to focus on exploration, combat, and building without being bogged down by inventory management or survival micromanagement.
- Generally enjoyable and fun game (weight 0.29): Many reviewers express general enjoyment and satisfaction with the game, often highlighting its value for the price and the fun they had playing it. While these points lack specific details, they indicate a positive overall sentiment towards the game.
- Fun, smooth, and responsive combat (weight 0.14): The combat system is praised for being fun, smooth, and responsive, with a good balance of challenge and accessibility. Players enjoy the engaging combat mechanics, which require timing, blocking, and strategic thinking rather than simple button mashing, and find the spear and shield fighting particularly well-implemented.
- Efficient and satisfying resource gathering (weight 0.07): The game's resource gathering system is efficient and satisfying, with quick collection times and a balanced approach that avoids excessive grinding. Players appreciate the ease of obtaining resources and the rewarding progression of the material tier gear system, which makes resource gathering feel worthwhile.
- Enjoyable and stable co-op experience (weight 0.06): The game offers an enjoyable co-op experience, allowing players to team up with friends and explore the world together. Reviewers find the co-op gameplay stable and engaging, making it a great way to spend time with friends and enhance the overall gaming experience.

Common complaints:
- World feels empty, lifeless (weight 0.88): The game world feels empty and lifeless due to a lack of content, variety, and meaningful activities. Reviewers frequently mention the absence of engaging encounters, diverse enemies, compelling points of interest, and a general sense of purpose, leading to a boring and unrewarding experience.
- Excessive grinding, slow progression (weight 0.54): The game suffers from excessive grinding due to unbalanced resource requirements, slow progression, and tedious crafting processes. Reviewers note that the need for repetitive material collection and the flawed progression system make the game feel like a chore.
- Uninspired, repetitive quests (weight 0.46): Quests are often criticized for being uninspired, repetitive fetch quests with little narrative depth or meaningful rewards. Reviewers find the objectives vague and the overall quest structure unsatisfying, contributing to a lack of engagement.
- Slow movement, tedious travel (weight 0.46): Slow character movement and a lack of fast travel options make traversing the game world tedious and time-consuming. Reviewers express frustration with the excessive travel time, especially when completing quests or retrieving items, hindering overall enjoyment.
- Lacks character customization (weight 0.45): The game lacks character customization options, with players often forced to use a default male character. Reviewers express disappointment with the inability to personalize their avatars, leading to a less immersive experience, especially in multiplayer.
- Frequent crashes, game-breaking bugs (weight 0.45): The game suffers from various technical issues, including frequent crashes, black screens, and other bugs that hinder gameplay. Reviewers report experiencing these problems even on systems exceeding the recommended specifications, making the game unplayable for some.
- Poor inventory management system (weight 0.43): Inventory management is cumbersome due to limited space, a lack of sorting options, and the inability to craft directly from chests. Reviewers find these quality-of-life issues frustrating and time-consuming, detracting from the overall gameplay experience.
- Unoriginal, generic survival game (weight 0.41): The game is often compared unfavorably to other survival games like Valheim, lacking unique features and innovation. Reviewers criticize the game for being a generic clone, failing to offer a compelling reason to choose it over its competitors.
- Tedious, cumbersome crafting system (weight 0.41): The crafting system is tedious and cumbersome, requiring excessive steps and clicks to create basic items. Reviewers find the process time-consuming and frustrating, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- Lacks enemy variety, poor AI (weight 0.14): The game suffers from a lack of enemy variety and intelligence, with sparse encounters that pose little challenge. Reviewers note that the limited number of enemy types and their predictable behavior make combat feel repetitive and unrewarding.

Gameplay feedback:
- Core crafting and building loops (weight 0.17): Crafting and building are core gameplay loops, involving resource gathering and a tiered progression system. Recipes are unlocked through quests, vendors, and exploration, with many workstations available. Some reviewers find the crafting system simple and streamlined, while others note a grind due to frequent tool breakage.
- Sandbox with light survival (weight 0.09): The game offers a sandbox experience with quests guiding exploration, but they are not essential for progression. It includes light survival mechanics, focusing on buffs from food rather than strict hunger/thirst requirements, and offers difficulty customization options.
- Visually appealing, empty world (weight 0.05): The open world is visually appealing but can feel empty, with a small, fixed map that limits exploration and replayability. The lack of a mini-map and quest markers can lead to getting lost, and quests are often simple and bland.
- Hunting for resources/progression (weight 0.05): Hunting is a key activity, with animal star ratings affecting resource yields. Some find it enjoyable, while others consider it a grind, especially for specific components. Hunting and food buffs contribute to character progression.
- Greek/Roman mythological setting (weight 0.04): The game is set in a Greek/Roman-inspired world, drawing from Greek mythology. This setting provides a unique backdrop for the survival and building elements.
- Skills improve through usage (weight 0.02): Skills improve through use, without a point system. Actions like gathering, logging, and combat increase relevant skills, unlocking bonuses as they level up.
- Stamina-based powers feel lacking (weight 0.02): The game features stamina-based powers like air dodging and gliding, but their purpose is unclear. Sprinting consumes stamina quickly, leading to slow movement and long regeneration times.
- Simple temples, lacking bosses (weight 0.02): Temples dedicated to Greek gods require completing simple trials or challenges to open them. These temples lack unique boss fights and feel like simple buildings.
- Shields block with stamina (weight 0.02): Shields block damage using stamina. Correctly timed blocks parry attacks, negating damage and staggering enemies.

Performance notes:
- Generally smooth, stable performance (weight 0.2): Many players report smooth performance, good optimization, and stability on various PC configurations, including the Steam Deck. Some reviewers specifically noted the absence of crashes and game-breaking bugs. This indicates a generally positive experience regarding the game's technical performance.
- Mixed opinions on graphics quality (weight 0.02): Reviewers have mixed opinions on the game's graphics, with some praising the visuals and animations, while others find them mediocre or blurry even on high settings. This suggests that the graphical quality may be subjective or inconsistent across different areas of the game. The graphics are not universally impressive.
- DirectX 11/12 compatibility issues (weight 0.01): Some players experienced a black screen on startup and found that launching the game in DirectX 11 mode resolved the issue. This suggests a potential compatibility problem with DirectX 12 or other graphics settings. This issue may require further investigation and a potential fix.
- Functional on Steam Deck (weight 0.01): The game runs on Steam Deck, but with reduced graphics settings to achieve playable frame rates. While not officially supported, the game is functional on the device. This provides an option for players who prefer handheld gaming.
- Janky animal animations (weight 0.01): Some reviewers noted that animal animations appear janky or glitchy, particularly when they are running. This detracts from the overall visual polish of the game. Improving animal animations could enhance the game's immersion.
- Minor pop-in issues (weight 0.01): Some players experienced minor performance issues such as late pop-in. These issues are not game-breaking, but they can be distracting. Addressing these minor issues could improve the overall experience.
- Lacks FSR/DLSS support (weight 0.01): The game lacks FSR and/or DLSS support, leading to high power consumption. This can be a problem for players with lower-end hardware or those who are concerned about energy usage. Implementing these technologies could improve performance and reduce power consumption.
- Foliage grows inside buildings (weight 0.01): Foliage growing inside bases and buildings is a minor but immersion-breaking bug. This issue needs to be addressed to improve the overall polish of the game. This is a common issue in survival games.
- Cursor issues in fullscreen mode (weight 0.01): In fullscreen mode, the mouse cursor can leave the game client, causing character movement issues. This is a specific bug that affects gameplay in fullscreen mode. This issue needs to be addressed to improve the user experience.
- Excessively long loading times (weight 0.01): Some players have reported excessively long loading times on PC. This issue can be frustrating and detract from the overall experience. Optimizing loading times should be a priority.
- Launches with maximum volume (weight 0): The game launches with maximum audio volume, which can be startling and inconvenient for players. This issue needs to be addressed to improve the user experience. This is a minor but annoying bug.
- Water map bug (weight 0): A map bug causes water to stop short of the land, creating a ditch. This is a minor visual bug that needs to be addressed. This issue is not game-breaking, but it can be distracting.

Recommendations:
- Worth it at a lower price (weight 0.9): The game's value is frequently tied to its price, with many reviewers recommending it only if it's on sale or at a lower price point. Some feel the current price is too high for the amount of content and polish available, while others find it worth the cost, especially compared to other early access titles.
- Needs more content and polish (weight 0.81): The game shows promise but needs more content, polish, and bug fixes to be worth the current price. Many reviewers are waiting for future updates and content additions before recommending or revisiting the game. Some suggest waiting for a sale or the full release.
- Mixed or negative experience (weight 0.17): Some reviewers find the game more enjoyable with friends, while others find it boring or not worth the time or money. These negative reviews often lack specific details, suggesting a possible review bombing.
- Technical issues impact gameplay (weight 0.06): Some reviewers experienced freezing issues on PC, and controller support may be lacking. These issues detract from the gameplay experience and may warrant waiting for fixes before purchasing.
- Play with friends (weight 0.02): Some reviewers recommend playing with friends, while others suggest the game is suitable for those seeking a passive activity for contemplation. These points are too vague to be useful.
- Positive experience with 'Dawn' (weight 0): These points are specific to 'Dawn of Defiance' and do not provide general feedback on the game.
- Positive recommendation (weight 0): These points are too general to be useful.
- Anticipation for full version (weight 0): These points are too general to be useful.
- Overall score (weight 0): These points are too general to be useful.
- Ancient vacation simulator (weight 0): These points are too general to be useful.
- Hope for further development (weight 0): These points are too general to be useful.

Other player notes:
- Early access, future content anticipated (weight 0.16): The game is in early access, with players anticipating future content, features, and updates based on the developer's roadmap and community feedback. Many reviewers are looking forward to seeing how the game evolves and plan to revisit it as development progresses.
- English language only (weight 0.01): The game is currently only available in English. However, reviewers note that it is still playable even with limited understanding of the language.
- Self-hosting for up to 4 (weight 0.01): The game supports self-hosting for up to 4 players, but does not have dedicated servers. Players are looking forward to hosting the game on personal servers to enable building with multiple people without host dependency.

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